Nancy Pelosi Reads Bono’s Poem That Links Saint Patrick’s Legacy To That Of Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky

President Joe Biden trekked to Capitol Hill for the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon, where guests in the Rayburn Room were treated to jumbo crab salad, noisettes of lamb with lemony grilled vegetables and shamrock-shaped cookies, along with a performance from Riverdance.

There also was a poem — this one from Bono. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that U2’s lead singer sent it to her on Thursday morning. “Bono has been a very Irish part of our lives,” Pelosi said.

She read Bono’s work, which compared Saint Patrick to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.

The poem read: Oh Saint Patrick he drove out the snakes; With his prayers but that’s not all it takes; For the snake symbolizes; An evil that rises; And hides in your heart; As it breaks; And the evil has risen my friends; From the darkness that lives in some men; But in sorrow and fear; That’s when saints can appear; To drive out those old snakes once again; And they struggle for us to be free; From the psycho in this human family; Ireland’s sorrow and pain; Is now the Ukraine; And Saint Patrick’s name now Zelenskyy.

Irish Prime Minister Taoiseach Micheál Martin was to attend the event, but was forced to isolate after he tested positive for Covid.

The full video is here:

Speaker Pelosi reads #StPatricksDay poem by Bono, which reads in part:

"Ireland's sorrow and pain
Is now the Ukraine
And Saint Patrick's name now Zelenskyy."

She then introduces Riverdance. pic.twitter.com/NzPY1VP2bN

— CSPAN (@cspan) March 17, 2022